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User blog:CLK3/What is the role of Locket of the Iron Solari?
Introduction Personally, I'm unhappy with many of the Support items and their build-paths (I main Thresh), Locket being one of my biggest targets. It's rather late to start comparing how "good" some old items were and why the current ones don't meet that, so what I'm looking at here is to figure out if the Locket is "good" and "worthy". I hope that something like this has been done back in the past and if so, please redirect me to the other discussions. Regardless, what I want to do and ask is: *Find out what Locket is (role/strenghts) *Are the current stats + build-path good for it? *What it could/should be? (Opinions) *''(Also, I will not discuss much about Banner of Command, which is the "sister item" of Locket since I have very little experience with it and so far has viewed it as an inferior choice)'' Role of the Locket of the Iron Solari Looking at the current stats it gives (high Magic Resistance and medium Armor), Locket is not really an item to counter specific type of damage. Rather, it offers solid defense against both physical and magical damage (but not against True Damage). Locket gives no Health to go with the Resistances and therefore has some synergy with other items, that offer Health without Resistances (Eyes, Sightstones, FotM, Redemption etc.). Active of the Locket grants a scaling Shield for nearby allies. The usage of the Active is more valuable when the Shield gets applied to more teammates and having Magic Resistance and/or Armor makes the Shield much more effective (especially lategame as the Shield grows around 500+). Overall Locket is a great item to bring into a teamfights because of the Active and the Resistances against different types of damage. The Active excels specifically in absorbing AoE damage coming from the enemy team. The closest comparison for Locket would most likely be Redemption and together these two are the key items for many Supports looking to teamfight. Active of the Locket can also be used against Assassinations you or your teammate(s) are facing due to the large Shield and instant effect. (What else is there?) In relation to other Items and CDR To start off, I will assume most Support builds go as Sightstone, Boots (tier 2), Support item (Eyes or the ones with an Active) and Redemption (because of how strong it is). Typically Locket is built after these items or sometimes before the Redemtion. Teamfights for objectives and picks happen around the map and Locket is a great add for your team's potential to demolish the enemy team. It happens to be one of the first Items to give Resistances for Supports which is excellent. At the point where Locket is completed, Supports still sit with their average 20% CDR from items (sometimes 10 or 30%, depending on build). Especially as a Thresh player, it makes me question why Locket can't provide some CDR? Having the +10% would help out in fights where Locket is supposed to be helpful with and thinking of lategame-builds: +10% from your Support item, +10% from Redemption and now you are left with 3-2 slots of free space. Locket giving you +0% CDR leaves you with 2-1 slots to try to achieve that maximum CDR and most choices only give +10% (Ardent, Mikael's, Zeke's, Banner) or alternatively you may try Ionian Boots. There's not too many options granting you +20%: Athene's, Iceborn and Frozen Heart. Not every champion can build all these items and pretend that it works. For tanky Supports like Leona, Tahm Kench, Alistar etc. Knight's Wow doesn't provide any additional CDR and they are left with Frozen Heart as one of the few items to complete their build and minimize their important cooldowns. I personally would like to see core Support items giving the player 20-30% CDR and the rest could be gained from boots and/or additional items towards the lategame. And do keep in mind that some lategame item choices provide no CDR, such as Banshee's, Randuin's, Rylai's or Righteous Glory as examples. CDR is one of the best stats to invest and maximize as a Support. Build path Let's face it, Locket's build path is pretty lame. If you gave me 1100g to invest into Supportive items, I most likely would consider Fiendish Codex, Glacial Shroud or Kindlegem for my Support-build over Aegis of the Legion. Not saying that Aegis would need CDR but because of how boring it is. It makes me think that Locket is not a Support item for any squishy Support Mages and "only" for Tank Supports that eat the damage (and maybe I have misunderstood the rework for Locket). But then you have champions like Thresh, Blitzcrank and Nautilus who all sure can eat damage and have minor survivability in their kits but who would LOVE to have some more CDR for their engagements. Aegis really gives them nothing. Once you have completed Aegis, you will either buy the Null Magic Mantle or the Locket straight away for total of another 1100g. It is passively +30 Magic Resistance and Null Magic Mantle was +25. In my opinion it is just underwhelming and perhaps I would trade some strenght or scaling from the Active in order to Passively make the item "worthy" investment. 60 Magic Resist total however is huge and welcome, but the build path can give you +50 MR from two Mantles. Overall, comparing Locket to it's basic components (Mantles and Cloth), you get 10 more MR and additional 15 Armor for 1000g. That's how good the Active has to be. Path to that Active AoE-shielding ability takes long and doesn't feel rewarding. Possible changes? I want Locket of the Iron Solari to feel like a good investment, not only for it's Active, but also for it's Passive stats. I want Aegis to be a rewarding choice, possibly a one which you could keep in your inventory as you finished some other item before Locket, as it builds into nothing else but Locket or Banner. I wish that Locket could give you 10% CDR which most likely would benefit anyone who builds it. I also liked the Aura effect old Locket used to have, giving Magic Resistance to nearby allies (champions). Regardless of what Riot intended the new Locket to be and why they changed the old one so much, I want to suggest something like this: Aegis of the Legion + 30 Magic Resistance + (Additional stat like Health or Armor?) + UNIQUE: Grants bonus 20 Magic Resistance to up to 2 nearby allied champions, prioritizing champions with lowest Magic Resistance. Aurs do not stack on allies. If your team has 2 Aegis, the weilders do not get the Aura effects and all 3 other players would get the effect once. Locket of the Iron Solari + 60 magic Resistance + (Additional stat like Health or Armor?) + 10% CDR + UNIQUE: Grants bonus 25 Magic Resistance to up to 2 nearby allied champions, prioritizing champions with lowest Magic Resistance. Auras do not stack on allies. (range could be more than 600) + UNIQUE (Active): Grants a decaying shield to nearby allied champions and yourself for up to 2.5 seconds, absorbing up to 70-520 + (25 x level) damage (90 second cooldown) (600 range). For the additional Health or Armor, I'm not looking at large numbers, just something like 200-300 Health or 30-ish Armor. Magic Resistance Aura would be good for teamfights, especially for the champions who did not invest into Magic Resistance (carries most likely). Also it may help allies who get their MR reduces by enemy, although I can see how this is not healthy concept. Conclusions There are not many alternative Items giving Magic Resistance for Supports: Athene's and Mikael's and both of them are in a weird spot in my opinion. Neither of them are really popular because of the changes sometime ago. Changing them into something which have clear roles would be good but I can't really say anything. Later on Banshee's might be an option. What are your thoughts on Locket of the Iron Solari and it's build path? Would you change anything or are you happy with the item we have? How would you change it? And how badly am I missing what this item 'really' is? Category:Blog posts